As an American living in England, I am used to a certain way of baking, and I haven’t wrapped my head around the idea of weighing all my ingredients. I have a kitchen scale, but the battery ran out and I haven’t bothered to replace it. Personally, I just prefer using cups and teaspoons. It’s also easier for me to alter a recipe or double/halve it if it’s in American measurements.
But, since I live here, and sometimes American ingredients are hard to come by, I will make the attempt from time to time to use an English recipe. Today, I attempted to make fairy cakes (cupcakes) with my children. In theory, it is an easy recipe, and my kids had a blast creaming sugar, breaking eggs, and mixing batter, but I messed it up. Big time.
Taken from iVillage website.
The Recipe
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125g / 4 1/2 oz softened butter
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125g / 4 1/2 oz caster sugar
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2 eggs, lightly beaten
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1 tsp vanilla extract
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125g / 4 1/2 oz self-raising flour
- 2 tbsp milk
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Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas mark 5. Either butter the tin or place the paper cases in the holes (see above). In a mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. You can use an electric whisk or a wooden spoon.
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Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, whisking to incorporate, then beat in the vanilla.
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Sift in half of the flour and fold into the mixture. Add the milk and the rest of the flour and fold until well combined.
- Spoon into the tin and bake for 12 minutes or until risen and golden on top. Allow to cool for ten minutes on a rack before removing from the tin.
My Alterations
So, without the means to weigh my ingredients, I thought I could wing it with a half cup of each of the main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour) and stick to the same measurements for everything else. I failed to take into consideration that flour weighs a LOT LESS than butter, so we used far too much butter for these cakes. Far, far too much.
We followed the rest of the recipe as closely as possible with two young children in charge of the mixing. Wooden spoons all around; even if I had an electric whisk, there’s no way I would have let my 5 year old and 3 year old anywhere near one!
The children put decorations on the cakes before baking – mostly multicoloured sprinkles and little silver balls. I find it’s easier to bake the sprinkles into the cake itself than it is to make icing and do it after the cakes have cooled.
The Results
I didn’t notice anything amiss in the batter when we were spooning it into the paper cup liners; it wasn’t until after they were finished baking that I noticed the paper liners looked really greasy. My heart sank; I knew I messed up the recipe.
The cakes tasted very greasy when warm, and only less so when cooled. My kids didn’t mind it, and the cakes have now gone into the freezer for storage. These cakes will probably be reserved for kids’ treats only, depending on how well they hold up frozen.
The only redeeming quality of the cakes were the batch with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top before baking. When eaten warm, they tasted like delicious doughnuts. When eaten cold, not so much. Ah well.
The Verdict
I totally messed up this recipe. I’m sure the cakes would have turned out “perfect” if not for my bungling, so their greasy taste is all my fault. Luckily, my kids didn’t seem bothered, and it was a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon with them. Sometimes baking isn’t just about how the finished product turns out.
The Rating
2/5
The only passable batch were the cinnamon sugar ones, and they only tasted good when warm. This recipe will probably be reattempted at some point, and made correctly!
